Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria amounted to EUR 1,705.3 million (5.2% of GDP) for in the period January – May 2008, compared to EUR 2,020.1 million (7% of GDP) attracted in January – May 2007, preliminary data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) show.

The attracted equity capital (acquisition/disposal of shares and equities in cash and contributions in kind by non-residents in/from the capital and reserves of Bulgarian enterprises and receipts/payments from/for real estate deals in the country) for January – May 2008 amounted to EUR 844.9 million, which was 49.5% of the foreign direct investment.

It decreased by EUR 323.2 million compared to that attracted in the same period of 2007 (EUR 1168.1 million). The receipts from real estate investments of non-residents amounted to EUR 587.3 million compared to EUR 712.8 million for January – May 2007.

The attracted equity capital on privatization deals with non-residents (that have acquired over 10% of the equity in a Bulgarian enterprise) reported in January – May 2008 did not increase, compared to an increase of EUR 1.4 million in January – May 2007. The attracted equity capital on non-privatization deals totaled EUR 844.9 million in the reporting period, compared to EUR 1166.7 million for the same period in 2007.

The other capital, net (the change in the net liabilities of the direct investment enterprise to the direct investor on financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities) was positive, amounting to EUR 664.9 million in January – May 2008, compared to a net other capital amounting to EUR 714.3 million in the same period of 2007.

According to preliminary data, the reinvested earnings2 (the share of non-residents in the undistributed earnings/ loss of the enterprise) in January – May 2008 are estimated at EUR 195.6 million compared to EUR 137.7 million in the same period of the previous year.

By country, the largest investments in Bulgaria for the reporting period were those of Germany (15.1% of the total foreign direct investment), Cyprus (11.8%) and Greece (11.2%).

Direct investment abroad increased by EUR 418.2 million in the period January – May 2008, compared to an increase of EUR 43.6 million in January – May 2007, preliminary data show. The equity capital invested abroad in 2008 amounted to EUR 414.8 million, compared to EUR 64.2 million in January – May 2007.